Oct. 23, 2020
We would like to highlight a recent accomplishment by UNH's very own Post-doc, Dr. Kathleen Jeffery! Dr. Jeffery, a Postdoctoral Associate in the Chemistry Department, published her research study "Students’ Responses to Emergency Remote Online Teaching Reveal Critical Factors for All Teaching" in the Journal of Chemical Education. Her research was highlighted in the September issue as part of a massive Special Issue on Insights Gained While Teaching Chemistry in the Time of COVID-19.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00736
Oct. 15, 2020
Post-doc Spotlight - Dr. Mike Alvarez
Mike Alvarez is a Postdoctoral Diversity and Innovation Scholar in the Department of Communication. He is also serving as Interim Diversity Chair of the Postdoctoral Association at UNH. He received his PhD in Communication and Graduate Certificate in Film Studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he was supported by a Paul and Daisy Soros New American Fellowship. He also holds a BA in Psychology from Rutgers University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College. For his dissertation, he examined the meanings discursively created by users of a ‘pro-life’ suicide forum and how these meanings were shaped and constrained by the platform itself.
Dr. Alvarez is the author of the forthcoming book, The Paradox of Suicide and Creativity: Authentications of Human Existence, a phenomenological study of the links between creativity in the arts and sciences and self-destruction. He has also completed a memoir, The Color of Dusk, which recounts his past struggles with mental health, suicide, and psychiatric hospitalization. Driven by his own encounters with mortality, he is currently exploring two parallel research interests. The first concerns suicide prevention apps, the cultural assumptions embedded in their design and their intended environment of use. The second concerns end-of-life narratives during COVID-19 as told in the media, the classroom, and by members of at-risk populations, including frontline workers, communities of color, and persons with underlying conditions. On that note, Dr. Alvarez recently signed a contract with McFarland for a co-authored book titled: A Plague for Our Time: Dying and Death in the Age of COVID-19. The book is anticipated to release in Spring 2022, with Dr. Alvarez as senior author.
As a member of multiple marginalized groups, Dr. Alvarez is steadfastly committed to cultivating respect for and appreciation of difference. In the past, he has helped organize and curate a semester-long, international film festival on physical and neuro-cognitive diversity; facilitated difficult conversations on end-of-life across communities; and as chair of a steering committee on diversity at Goddard College, spearheaded various initiatives that culminated in a best practices report that the college continues to use.
When there is free time to be had, Dr. Alvarez enjoys reading dystopian novels and transgressive queer literature, playing survival horror video games, and playing with his two newly adopted kittens. He also considers himself a decent cook and can make a variety of dishes from his native homeland of the Philippines.
Sept. 16, 2020
Join us in celebrating National Postdoc Appreciation Week (Sept. 21-25) at UNH!
(Registration is required in order to receive Zoom link)
Monday: 3:30-4:30 PM EDT
Post-Doc Presentations by fellow post-docs Maithili Shroff, Amin Rafiei, Victor Pinto, Hannah Fazekas
Register here
Tuesday: 3:30 - 4:30 PM EDT
Virtual interviews
Register here
Thursday: 3:30 - 4:30 PM EDT
Orientation to the UNH research infrastructure
Register here
Friday: 3:30 - 4:30 PM EDT
Post-Doc Presentations by fellow post-docs Luiz Silva, Mike Alvarez, Kyle Arndt, Lydia Reinig
Register here
Sept. 2, 2020
Congratulations to UNH postdoc Hannah Fazekas for her recent publication
"Dissolved Organic Carbon and Nitrate Concentration‐Discharge Behavior Across Scales: Land Use, Excursions, and Misclassification"!
Hannah Fazekas is a postdoctoral research associate in the lab of Bill McDowell in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment (NREN) at UNH. Her research focuses on how high-frequency sensor networks can be used to provide novel understanding of the emergent properties of river networks, biogeochemical cycles, and elemental stoichiometry.
Earlier this year, Hannah participated in an amazing opportunity as a Postdoctoral Resident at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) in Santa Barbara, California. She worked on a project that examined how linked hydrological and biogeochemical processes respond to variability in climate.
During her time at UNH, Hannah has been productive in both her research and her service. She has played a key role in the UNH Postdoctoral Association and is currently serving as Exective Committee Orientation Chair. We are so proud of her and her accomplishments!!